Telegraph Travel Awards 2012: readers' favourite hotels

For the second year running, readers of Telegraph Travel have voted The Savoy,
in London, their favourite UK hotel. Fiona Duncan, Telegraph Travel's hotel
expert, writes: "The Savoy has always embodied the dual aspects of the
British: buttoned up and party loving. The Savoy Grill catered for the
former; the celebrity-packed American Bar and Thames Foyer, where guests
first rose to the music, inventing the tea dance, catered for the latter.
Sadly, decline set it, and when it shut in 2007, it was completely clapped
out. But three years later, stunningly revamped by Pierre-Yves Rochon, it
made an immediate and triumphant return with all its legendary elements
still in place, plus the theatrical new Beaufort Bar for champagne,
cocktails and cabaret. Not only has Richard d’Oyly Carte’s creation been
saved, but it sparkles as brightly as it did in its heyday."